


California Dreamin'

by fredandgeorgerule



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: California, F/M, Gen, I Made Myself Cry, hannah is also here for like half a second, written for discord
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:22:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24929101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fredandgeorgerule/pseuds/fredandgeorgerule
Summary: California had been the sole thing on Ethan Green's mind for the past three years.--Written for a Starkid RP server. Title from the song by The Mamas & The Papas
Relationships: Lex Foster/Ethan Green
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	California Dreamin'

**Author's Note:**

> so, I wrote this at 5am on the beach. I'll let you guys be the judges of it. Feedback, be it positive or negative, is appreciated. 
> 
> xo

California had been the sole thing on Ethan Green's mind for the past three years. 

Ever since he and Lex first came up with the idea to leave, he'd been thinking of it. In sophomore year, when they were just friends and the 'plan' was simply another exercise in wistful thinking, Ethan dreamt of California with every failed test and shouting match at home. In junior year, he was thinking _California_ in shop class and dreaming it in all the others. It was California he'd been thinking of when he bought a black leather jacket second-hand, much too worn to be of use in Hatchetfield winter. As he and Lex became more, their plan solidified. Nowadays, with every cigarette butt and blunt he thought of the beach. When he failed senior year and his parents kicked him out, it was California he turned to for comfort every night he settled into his car to sleep and every time he used the facilities of the local library, or worse, Beanie's. 

During that last summer in Hatchetfield, as Lex sobbing into his shoulder became more and more common, it was California, now real and waiting for them, that he used to calm her down. California, the promised land, far away from Lex's mom, and Ethan's parents, and Toy Zone, and the dingy garage on the edge of town Ethan worked at.

_California is waiting_ , Ethan reminded himself as he spent his meagre savings on repairs for his car.

_California is waiting_ , he insisted to the library bathroom mirror in the mornings.

_California is waiting_ , he smiled to himself as he agreed to exchange a children's toy for seven thousand dollars.

\--

  
California also monopolised his thoughts during the last three minutes of his life. He'd failed, God, he'd made Lex a promise and then went and broke it. 

He'd never see California. It would forever remain a dream, one that was almost reality before slipping from his grasp. He'd never take Hannah-Banana to the beach and teach her -and himself- to make sandcastles. He'd never kiss Lex on Hollywood Boulevard, or tell her he loved her under the clear stars of L.A.

He'd never tell Lex he loved her.

His head was lifted then, and he heard his name. The movement jostled his shattered ribs and he would have groaned if he'd had it in him. A face swam into focus.

Lex.

At the sight of her, he found his hope again. He _would_ get through this. They _would_ get to California.

'Lex,' he managed, and there was so much to say. 'I'll get you to California Lex. Then you don't gotta cry so much no more,' he repeated the promise he'd made her that July. His doubts were gone, so best to chase hers away as well. If she answered, he didn't hear it. He was tired, his vision darkening, but with Lex here, Ethan knew he'd be alright. They'd be alright and in California soon, and this whole thing would be just another nightmare. _They'd be fine._

He let himself sleep.

Ethan Green died on Black Friday, a few months shy of his nineteenth birthday.

He never saw California.


End file.
